Sox’s Mitchell has potential for special career

GLENDALE, Ariz. &#8212; It was just a little after 10 a.m. Monday, the temperature in the 40s and the field soaked from rains that had left standing water across Arizona, when Jared Mitchell stepped in to face Dodgers lefty Scott Elbert in a game no one paid to see.

Elbert started Mitchell off with an inside fastball and the left-handed-hitting Mitchell jerked it down the first-base line. The ball caromed off a mitt and went into foul territory, allowing the 21-year-old to cruise easily into second base.

A walk later, Mitchell broke for third on the front end of a double steal. He dove toward the bag, reaching for it with an outstretched hand, and beat the throw from Brad Ausmus by a fingernail.

Exciting play. Exciting player.

It's going to be awhile, if ever, before we see that from Mitchell again.

A two-sport star at LSU, he's ranked as the White Sox's best prospect, ahead of more familiar names such as Daniel Hudson, Jordan Danks, Tyler Flowers and Dayan Viciedo. He didn't think about protecting himself when he went flying across left field in pursuit of Juan Rivera's drive Friday, and as a result probably won't play in 2010.

Mitchell collided with the wall at Tempe Diablo Stadium and subsequently will have surgery Tuesday to repair a torn tendon in his left ankle.

It's the same basic injury Robin Ventura suffered in a slide at home plate in the spring of 1997. It proved only a minor setback for Ventura, who would play in the World Series with the 2000 Mets, but he wasn't fast before his injury. Mitchell's value is based, in a large part, around his speed.

Here's hoping he will bounce back. I talked to him after the B game Monday and his eyes shined as brightly as any in the room.

"You can see why he was a first-rounder,'' White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker said. "He is a very talented kid.''

Mitchell was having a ball this spring. He was focused on himself, of course (Walker was working with him for the first time on a mechanical hitch involving his stride), but mostly would tell his friends and family in Louisiana how much he was learning from guys like Juan Pierre, Paul Konerko, Harold Baines and Andruw Jones.

He had been on NCAA champions in football and baseball at LSU but told me it was the one in baseball he cherished most. He had been named Most Outstanding Player at the College World Series between the time the Sox picked him and when they gave him a $1.2 million bonus.

Mitchell oozed an aura of an impact player. But will he next spring? And did his injury have to happen?

There's no way to outguess the baseball gods but the reality is the fans who rued big-leaguers involvement in the 2009 World Baseball Classic also should question why the Sox and Cubs played split-squad games in Las Vegas and Arizona this weekend.

If not for this pure cash grab, Mitchell probably wouldn't have come over from the minor league camp to play Friday. The Sox would have been covered with the likes of Alex Rios, Alejandro De Aza, Jones and Danks. And Mitchell still would be having the time of his young life.